So my Sony home theatre amp stopped any audio output the night after my wife
used the wireless headphones which have the base station that plugs into the
headphone jack.
After a bit of poking around, I realized that the tip of 1/4" plug broke off
inside the the jack. Secondary to that, I was surprised this has never
happened before as the 3.5mm to 1/4" converter only has the tip attached by
friction fitting, these are not permanently attached to the shaft. What kind
of bonehead designs something like that.
I’ve since disposed of the other 2 or 3 of these crappy adaptors for ones
that have the tip solidly attached.
So Q-tip with the end cut off and a dollop of crazy glue didn’t work, I tried
a number of times, also tried very fine electronics tweezers but can’t get
past the spring holding the tip in. Also can’t find a small enough magnet
tool to fit in the jack.
I popped the lid on the amp, but the jack is a closed model so I can’t get
the tip out without dismantling the amp and desoldering and likely replacing
the jack.
Spoke with the owner of Ho’s on recommendation of a friend who’s in the
music/guitar community
He quoted at least $100 to take it apart and repair it. Though since the
space is now so much closer, I might come down and try it there myself first.
I also have a second identical model of the Sony amp with a broken HDMI input
plug. I suspect that’ll be a lot more complicated and I can get Ho to handle
that. End goal is to have 2 working amps, but I guess I could sacrifice one
amp for parts.
Notwithstanding all the above, anyone ever work out a more reliable method to
get the broken tip out of the 1/4" jack?
That sounds like an electrical safety hazard just waiting to set my amp on fire
Though I guess I should see if the damaged screw removal kit I got from Lee Valley last year has something small enough. If I can get it to “bite” in the tip tightly enough, I should be able to reverse the drill and pull it out slowly.
Tried that, the photos will illustrate why that didn’t work, basically not
enough surface area to grip/stick too. Again this whole friction fit
nonsense.
any chance you still have one of the crap adapters you disposed of and that you can pull it apart and give a photo of what the stuck bit would look like?
I had a very similar thing happen on my old LG phone. Only it was a 1/8" plug. I tried crazy glue on a stick. didn’t work. I was very stringent on how much glue I used as I didn’t want it leaking into the jack and making it worse
Also you probably won’t be able to drill it out. The thing can still easily rotate.
He claims there is a peg on the piece that breaks off. Makes sense when you think about it. But what size it is on a 1/4 I’m not sure. could try using something to get an impression. Or google that actual design specs for the connector
if the hole in the stuck bit has some amount of depth you may be able to grab on with a dental pick jammed into said hole… something like these (available from lee valley)
it may be possible to get two of them inserted into the hole and somehow lever them together to make a jam fit…
Hmm, I have a set of those, though based on the size of the handles, think it’s unlikely I could fit 2 in at the same time.
Wonder if anyone has made a reverse screw picker-upper, you know the ones where you press the button at the top and 3 prongs open up to allow you to grab a screw. Something that opens with the prongs pointing outward rather than inward might do the trick.
I was also thinking about the screw-picker. The one I have, you might be able to clip off the end bits that turn inwards and then just use the three protruding prongs, hopefully it would have enough traction to bring it out
What about an appropriately sized straw or tube? Something you can push over the broken tip to move the spring out of the way. You may then be able to use one of the other techniques.
I tried using fine electronics tweezers in the same context, could never get around the spring to grasp it, I think due to the black(rubber/plastic) section which is just on the other side of the spring which you can see in this pic from one of the other adpators I dismantled.
Haven’t tried that yet. Though the Jack housing does have some small holes at the back that I expect would kill the suction. I don’t have anything small enough and “suck-y” enough to fit inside the jack.
